Um, there's something terribly wrong with today's children.

[cookiepuss]

3rd graders, dude. I'm deeply disturbed by this.

Cops: 3rd-graders plotted teacher attack

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press WriterWed Apr 2, 9:52 AM ET

A group of children ages 8 to 10 apparently were mad at their teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, authorities say.

That led the third-graders, as many as nine boys and girls, to plot an attack on the teacher at Center Elementary School in south Georgia.

Police Chief Tony Tanner said the students apparently planned to knock the teacher unconscious with a glass paperweight, bind her with handcuffs and duct tape and then stab her with a broken steak knife.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, and another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

"We're not sure at this point in the investigation how many of the students actually knew the intent was to hurt the teacher," Tanner said.

School officials had alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had taken a weapon to school.

Tanner said the teacher told detectives the children weren't known as troublemakers.

"You can't dismiss it," Tanner said. "But because they are kids, they may have thought this was like a cartoon — we do whatever and then she stands up and she's OK. That's a hard call."

The purported target teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity, friends and parents said.

Two of the students were arrested on juvenile charges Tuesday and a third arrest was expected. District Attorney Rick Currie said other students told investigators they didn't take the plot seriously or insisted they had decided not to participate.

"Some of the kids said, `We thought they were just kidding,'" Currie said. "Another child was supposed to bring a toy pistol, and he told a detective he didn't bring it because he thought he would get in trouble."

Currie said the children are too young to be charged as adults, and probably too young to be sentenced to a youth detention center.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

Currie said he decided to seek juvenile charges against two girls, ages 9 and 10, who brought the knife and paperweight and an 8-year-old boy who brought tape. He said they face charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and both girls are being charged with taking weapons to school.

Nine children have been given discipline up to and including long-term suspension, said Theresa Martin, spokeswoman for the Ware County school system. She would not be more specific but said none of the children had been back to school since the case came to light.

School system policy says any student who brings "anything reasonably considered to be a weapon" is to be expelled for at least the remainder of the school year.

[Rock]

"But because they are kids, they may have thought this was like a cartoon — we do whatever and then she stands up and she's OK. That's a hard call."

Thats ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as these "confused" kids plotting and scheming this shit.

But if I was the teacher and it came down to it....I think I could take on 10 3rd graders if I had to.

[abcdefz]

I stuck this in the odd news thread. It's bizarre to me to read about elementary school kids killing. (Seems just last week some kid killed
a toddler.) There seems to be an even bigger spate of adults killing kids, which just blows me away. I have no idea how that switch
gets flipped that says "it's okay to do this."

[-T-]

i remember in 3rd grade I added the word crap in my vocabulary. Good times.(y)

[Rock]

i remember in 3rd grade I added the word crap in my vocabulary. Good times.(y)

i remember in 3rd grade, i touched someones vagina for the first time. Good times.

[cookiepuss]

I don't remember 3rd grade that well...but I do remember that it would have NEVER crossed our minds band together to retaliate against a teacher.

in fact if i remember correctly 3rd grade was the year our regular teacher fell ill and we had a series of subsitutes. One of the substitutes was a mean old hag and she actually took a ruler to one boys hands when he misbehaved in class (This was a public school) we were all terrified of her after that ...but you know what we did? we told our parents and our parents went to the principal and the old hag was fired.

[-T-]

i remember in 3rd grade, i touched someones vagina for the first time. Good times.


I see, i may have still referred to a vagina as a "china" but i think that ended in 2nd grade. I was not 100% sure what it was for but i knew of its presence and mystery.

[abcdefz]

i remember in 3rd grade, i touched someones vagina for the first time. Good times.



....a girl's, I hope!

[-T-]

....a girl's, I hope!

the teachers?

[cookiepuss]

I stuck this in the odd news thread. It's bizarre to me to read about elementary school kids killing. (Seems just last week some kid killed
a toddler.) There seems to be an even bigger spate of adults killing kids, which just blows me away. I have no idea how that switch
gets flipped that says "it's okay to do this."


One could make an argument that our society's increased violence in general is a sign of overpopulation. That theory was put forth by a study done with rats that found that ratty-kins become extremely aggressive when forced to live in overcrowded conditions. I beleive there was also an increase in obesity and disease as well. Can you find parrallells in Human populations? sure, you can. Does that mean our problems are cause by overpopulation...not nessessarily. but I think it's an interesting theory nonetheless.

[abcdefz]

Then wouldn't Hong Kong be one of the most violent places on earth?

Granted, parts of India are amazingly violent, though...

I don't know. I think part of it is that it's become part of pop culture that it's cool or a rite of passage or a means of respect to kill someone.
Gangsta gangsta, etc. Why the fuck would that seem cool to someone? That's a horrible life.

I don't quite know if that trickles down to third graders, though, but I bet two dollars the kid who was scolded for
standing on the chair felt "disrespected."

[Dorothy Wood]

If she was teaching a "special ed" sort of class, I can see how the kids would plan something like this. Some children have very violent thoughts, but don't understand the concept of death or even think about the consequences if they were to hurt another person.

I dunno, I used to work at an afterschool program with children with behavioral disorders and I was threatened several times by 2nd-5th graders. One kid said he was going to bring his dad's gun to school and shoot me with it because I told him to keep his voice down. I just said, "well, if you do that, I'll be dead and you'll have to go to jail". and he said "so?!" but then we had a private talk and he decided not to murder me. However, this was before kids started going to schools and shooting people all the time.

[cookiepuss]

^ thats interesting.

I don't know, in general I'm not one to say that violent TV is the cause of violence in real life (with adults), but in this case I do have to wonder if these kids were mimicing something they saw on tv.

anyone seen that ridiculous movie "Teaching Mrs. Tingle?". that flick comes to mind. it's about a group of highschool kids who take thier evil english teacher hostage. In the end they get Mrs. Tingle fired (because she tries to murder one of the kids) but the kids face absolutely NO concequences for taking the teacher hostage in the first place. kinda sends a fucked up message if you ask me.

[Loppfessor]

In 3rd grade all I could think about was recess so me and the homies could play with our Ninja Turtles action figures....now had my teacher tried to take that away I'd probably stab her too

[TurdBerglar]

you guys really find this surprising?


kids do this shit all the time. schemeing to kill their teachers. talking about it and planning it during recess and shit. it's all for laughs. i highly doubt they would have carried anything out(but who knows these days). i clearly remember shit like that back in that age range. a bunch of us talking about pushing the bitch down the stairs the next day on our way to the cafeteria and having a whole process set out for it. someone coming in the next day with a set of instuctions and a fucking diagram how the bitch would fall all the way down the three flights of stairs. this is what kids do.


the only thing that really bugs me is the fact that one of them brought a broken steak knife in.

[Bob]

kids do this shit all the time. schemeing to kill their teachers. talking about it and planning it during recess and shit. it's all for laughs. i highly doubt they would have carried anything out(but who knows these days). i clearly remember shit like that back in that age range. a bunch of us talking about pushing the bitch down the stairs the next day on our way to the cafeteria and having a whole process set out for it. someone coming in the next day with a set of instuctions and a fucking diagram how the bitch would fall all the way down the three flights of stairs. this is what kids do.

i don't think i remember anyone ever doing that as a kid

[hitmonlee]

^ thats interesting.

I don't know, in general I'm not one to say that violent TV is the cause of violence in real life (with adults), but in this case I do have to wonder if these kids were mimicing something they saw on tv.

anyone seen that ridiculous movie "Teaching Mrs. Tingle?". that flick comes to mind. it's about a group of highschool kids who take thier evil english teacher hostage. In the end they get Mrs. Tingle fired (because she tries to murder one of the kids) but the kids face absolutely NO concequences for taking the teacher hostage in the first place. kinda sends a fucked up message if you ask me.

yes i remember that movie... was very miffed at the lack of closure... weird movie.

[taquitos]

boyz wyll b boyz

[-T-]

you guys really find this surprising?


kids do this shit all the time. schemeing to kill their teachers. talking about it and planning it during recess and shit. it's all for laughs. i highly doubt they would have carried anything out(but who knows these days). i clearly remember shit like that back in that age range. a bunch of us talking about pushing the bitch down the stairs the next day on our way to the cafeteria and having a whole process set out for it. someone coming in the next day with a set of instuctions and a fucking diagram how the bitch would fall all the way down the three flights of stairs. this is what kids do.


the only thing that really bugs me is the fact that one of them brought a broken steak knife in.

I agree is pretty normal for kids to plot things, it was a good way to use your imagination. i remember on the playground there were a few different "gangs' and we had forts setup and all we did is plot and take action against the other gangs. mostly plot. imaginative violence is normal. its just not normal for kids to actually act upon it. also with the media covarage these days it just puts new idea's in these kids heads.

[Lex Diamonds]

I think I could take on 10 3rd graders if I had to.
That's a pretty hilarious mental image. I think it would be kinda fun.

[abcdefz]

you guys really find this surprising?


kids do this shit all the time. schemeing to kill their teachers. talking about it and planning it during recess and shit. it's all for laughs. i highly doubt they would have carried anything out(but who knows these days). i clearly remember shit like that back in that age range. a bunch of us talking about pushing the bitch down the stairs the next day on our way to the cafeteria and having a whole process set out for it. someone coming in the next day with a set of instuctions and a fucking diagram how the bitch would fall all the way down the three flights of stairs. this is what kids do.




Um.... maybe it's because you and your friends are sociopaths? I never knew of kids to do this.

[TurdBerglar]

if you ever spent time around some kids(kids that trust you most importantly) they say some pretty twisted shit. all sorts of kids from all walks of life. kids are evil, mental, manipulative, genius little beings. they just know when to keep their mouths shut and don't go around yelling their twisted ideas to grownups. not because they know what they're saying is utterly wrong(they know it's wrong just not THAT wrong), but because just to keep the adults off their backs.

[abcdefz]

As a kid, I spent a whole hell of a lot of time around kids. We just all didn't grow up setting cats on fire, you know?

[TurdBerglar]

but i bet you joked around about it and there was that one twisted fuckhead that actually did it and ruined it for everyone!

[abcdefz]

Nope.

I did cut a cat's whiskers once, but I thought I was doing it a favor.

I made a really racist remark to my second grade teacher, though, if that makes you happy. It was more about hurting her feelings than
about race, but it worked, and I made her cry.

[TurdBerglar]

well we had a nutjob in our neighborhood that use to kill our cats because we didn't let him hang out with us. i bet he ALWAYS ruined it for everyone amongst his group of friends.

and i don't beleive that you never joked around about some very twisted shit as a kid. not because it's you but because you were a kid and that's what kids do.

[ms.peachy]

but i bet you joked around about it and there was that one twisted fuckhead that actually did it and ruined it for everyone!

I think you are right up to a point on this issue - sometimes kids do come up with some crazy ideas. I think what is so shocking about this situation though is that it wasn't just a couple of kids mouthing off to eachother about things they wouldn't actually do, except for maybe the one little nutter who didn't have the sense to know it was all just talk - in this case, there were, what, something like 9 kids involved, and the plan was as I understand it quite involved, each with certain specific roles to play, and that some of them actually brought in 'equipment' to carry out the plot.

[abcdefz]

I agree about the "crazy ideas" thing; I just can't go with the "all kids devise sick/twisted/abhorrent schemes." That's sort of putting words
in Turd's mouth, but it seems to be what he's saying. I had two older brothers and lots of friends, and I don't remember that.

I do agree that kids could often be very mean, and maybe even get really creative about it. But I don't remember even the worst of them
really stepping off the ledge in that way, and to paint all kids with that brush is pretty inaccurate and unfair.

[TurdBerglar]

all it takes is the one kind with the twisited(creative) mind to come up with the idea and the rest will follow if the idea is funny enough. not every kid has these crazy ideas. it's that most kids will just follow along if something is entertaining enough. do you expect kids to fully understand between funny and just plain wrong? they may know it's wrong but if it's funny enough how could it be that wrong if it's so funny? killing your teacher can be hilarious! we've all joked about killing our teachers/bosses...

besides the kid actually bringing in a knife this seems blown out of porportion to me.

[Mr. Boomin'Granny]

haha of course in Waycross. Dumbass kids.

[BangkokB]

I'll bet all the $ in your wallet that you're talking about anomalies that rarely happen and yet here you are wringing your hands thinking it's the Last Horn of the Apocalypse being blown. I believe that things like this have always happened but thanks to anxiety ridden 24 Hour News TV, with images like this being blasted across repeatedly your heart beat moves up a few ticks and your convinced the sky is falling. Peoples fears are only as strong as they allow them to be. Live your life. Enjoy it. Living in Fear is Not Living

And that's my 8:19AM Saturday Morning Speech with a little help from my good friends at Sky Vodka, Oceanspray Cranberry Juice, 2 Blue Valiums, 4 Xanax and a few beers

[mathcart]

The purported target teaches third-grade students with learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, delayed development and hyperactivity

If she was teaching a "special ed" sort of class, I can see how the kids would plan something like this. Some children have very violent thoughts, but don't understand the concept of death or even think about the consequences if they were to hurt another person.



This seems to be key, I have worked (as a teacher) with both developmentally delayed and children with learning disabilities. It is highly plausible that most of them just liked the plotting idea and you don't have to look far to see its appeal to kids (see almost any looney tune cartoon). I cant say for sure without knowing more about the kids but kids DO understand violence on some levels- and those that live with it (in some fashion) tend to be more caviler and reality based with their violence then kids without that exposure.
But I am not surprise by this, I'm glad for everyones sake that nothing happened, but that said- this is a teachable moment to really engage these kids about reality/fantasy, the impact of ones actions on others, what to do when you are upset/embarrassed/ angry about something. This is what schools should be focusing on, not stupid tests(but this is a whole 'nother thread topic for me as I could go on for a long ass time). They definitely should not be potentially charged by the frickin' DA- another societal issue f'n up our country right there, the culture of incarceration. I am much more shocked and appalled at the reaction of the adults in this story then by the kids.



you guys really find this surprising?


kids do this shit all the time. schemeing to kill their teachers. talking about it and planning it during recess and shit. it's all for laughs. i highly doubt they would have carried anything out(but who knows these days). i clearly remember shit like that back in that age range. a bunch of us talking about pushing the bitch down the stairs the next day on our way to the cafeteria and having a whole process set out for it. someone coming in the next day with a set of instuctions and a fucking diagram how the bitch would fall all the way down the three flights of stairs. this is what kids do.



when I was 5 my best friend (who lived down the block) and I plotted to kill my baby sister (she was 2 at the time). We took a slice of American cheese and "poisoned" it by dumping dirt on it (essentially burying it in his back yard). We then hid behind his porch waiting for the smell of the poisoned cheese to waft down the block and reach my sisters nostrils, which would then, obviously, carry her down the block where she would be compelled to eat it and die on the spot. It did not work, we mostly spent the afternoon running around the block and then remembering to go back and hide and see if indeed we had succeeded in our diabolical plan. We didn't understand what it meant to "poison" someone, I'm sure we were inspired by a cartoon. We didn't know any better and my sister was never in any serious jeopardy. I guess I'm saying I agree with the turd.
:)

[NoFenders]

The answer to why and how lays in the tv shows and movies they watch. Plain and simple.

:cool: